God, my Exceeding Jov.

JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D. D.

Psalm xliii. 4.

EARLY my spirit turned

From earthly things away, And agonized and yearned For the eternal day; Dimly I saw when but a boy, God, my exceeding joy.

In days of fiercer flame,

When passion urged me on, "Twas only bliss in name—

The pleasure soon was gone. Compared with thee how all things cloy, God, my exceeding joy!

At length the moment came

Jesus made known his love;

High shot the kindling flame

To glories all above,

Now all the powers one theme employGod, my exceeding joy.

Shadows came on apace;

Tears were a pensive shower;

I cried for timely grace

To save me from the hour;
Thou gavest peace, without alloy;
God, my exceeding joy.

One trial yet awaits,
Gigantic at the close;

All that my spirit hates

May then my peace oppose;

But God shall this last foe destroy,-
God, my exceeding joy.

Dame in the Sand.

HANNAH F. GOULD.

ALONE I walked the ocean strand,
A pearly shell was in my hand;
I stooped, and wrote upon the sand
My name-the year—the day;
As onward from the spot I passed,
One lingering look behind I cast-
A wave came rolling high and fast,
And washed my lines away.

And so, methought, 'twill shortly be
With every mark on earth from me;
A wave of dark oblivion's sea

Will sweep across the place
Where I have trod the sandy shore
Of time, and been, to be no more;
Of me, my frame, the name I bore,
To leave no track nor trace.

And yet, with him who counts the sands, And holds the waters in his hands,

I know a lasting record stands
Inscribed against my name,

Of all this mortal part has wrought,
Of all this thinking soul has thought,
And from these fleeting moments caught
For glory or for shame!

Still will we Crust.

WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH.

STILL will we trust, though earth seem dark and

dreary,

And the heart faint beneath his chastening rod; Though rough and steep our pathway, worn and

weary,

Still will we trust in God!

Our eyes see dimly till by faith anointed,

And our blind choosing brings us grief and pain; Through Him alone who hath our way appointed We find our peace again.

Choose for us, God!-nor let our weak preferring
Cheat our poor souls of good thou hast designed;
Choose for us, God!-thy wisdom is unerring,
And we are fools and blind.

So from our sky the night shall furl her shadows,
And day pour gladness through his golden gates;
Our rough path leads to flower-enamelled meadows,
Where joy our coming waits.